Trinidad Carnival
And now for the conclusion… Part III brings it home with Alex’s insights on the creation of his book, a breakdown of his kit, and some really excellent advice on how he makes his subjects comfortable with the camera.
If you haven’t read Part I, or Part II, click the links below, if you have, read on!
**Read Part I
**Read Part II
You now live in Trinidad, where you published your first book. Why Trinidad?
Alex’s first book, “Trinidad & Tobago - Carnival.Land.Water.People"
“…every day was different, I met so many people from all walks of life and society, and traveled the entire country.”
My mother is from here so I had been here several times before. 2000 was a kind of turning point as I had started coming to the Caribbean to start the process for the book. My initial trip was a fund raising trip on which I raised… nothing. I did cover the Millennium from Tobago and on the back of a tourism job and brought over a mate from UK as my assistant. I sent it to Sygma and miraculously NY Times bought the shot for their website of pictures around the World. The head of Tourism at the time was pleased so I ended up staying for 6 months and my assistant for 3 months.
Note: Alex’s book
How did a book deal come into the picture in Trinidad?
It was the start of the War in the Middle East. I was in Pakistan for Out There News and a week after I got back to UK they asked if would like to go back to Kabul this time. In the same week the book deal and an advance from the publisher came through. In short, I funded myself on a UK bank loan, a few odd jobs and moved to Trinidad in 2001. All in all, I spent 2 years photographing and then a year of editing and design and layout done by Gareth Jenkins from Above, a really good designer.
Could you tell us a little more about your experience creating the book?
It was a long-term project that needed a lot of planning. I had sent a brief to 3 researchers beforehand and they drew up schedules and a contact base for me of what festivals, religious days, and cultural elements were going on.
I drafted several shot lists and schedules to try and form some kind of day or week planner to get everything I needed. I talked to a lot of Trinis, got a feeling of what was important to them, what had to be in there, what sensitivities I needed to be aware of. From that I would have my week’s work and Monday morning I could be found up a tree in a harness in the rain forest or checking out an old plantation house or just hanging out with some sugar cane farmers.
It was amazing time, every day was different, I met so many people from all walks of life and society, and traveled the entire country.
Some things I got in one shot and just had a feeling that they would reach the final cut, some things only happen once a year so I managed to go back twice to improve on it as I knew what to expect and where to place myself.
With tens of thousands of images I got contact sheets made. From these I scanned in some low resolution edits and got a couple of editors in involved and they made a first cut without me being around using a ‘must haves’ brief. Trinidad is a very sensitive place and multi-racial so it was very important to have a balance on all issues for it to be accepted. Then I did another two edits with a couple of great photographers Abigail Hadeed and an Italian who owns a hotel called Peiro. That was really important to get artistic opinion on the images versus a ‘must have’ clear image. A further critic Zac Ove, a Trini/British filmmaker convinced me to go more for the stylish photography rather than trying to please everyone.
So then Gareth and I literally did a final cut using color laser copies laid out across our studio floor. It was fun and heart breaking but the storyline and layout slowly came together by itself. We did 3 layout versions each with just slight tweaks. Another friend Steve Voss a German designer, did the final color corrections on the high resolution scans and we sent it off and never heard anything back until a first print came off the press several months later. It was obviously an amazing feeling. The work on the book led to where I am now. Gareth Jenkins, Sam Clement and I formed a partnership and created abovestudios.com a creative company comprising of our three disciplines, design, tech and photography.
At CameraPorn, as you know we are obsessed with gear. Tell us about your kit - camera, lenses, lighting, accessories etc.
My basic kit bag consist of a Canon 5D and a Canon 10D back up both with battery grips.
Before continuing, let me explain being based in the tropics. First there is 40 % duty on buying new kit. They even charge you if you send something to be fixed! There are no stores here, there are no maintenance technicians, and there are no Canon service centers.
There is however, 90% humidity, 6 months of torrential rain, dust, mud, robbers and a 3-day alcohol fueled Carnival. All of which decimates my kit at least once a year. So now I embarrassingly stick to cheaper semi-pro lens like Sigma and Tamron f/2.8s. I know they will just last a year or two but half the cost of Canons and kind of disposable. So my lenses include an off-brand 17-35, 28-70, a 70-200 which was just soaked in tropical rain. Also an old, battered Canon f/3.5-5.6 35-350mm L. I just got a Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L Tilt-Shift as I do a lot of architecture and interiors.
As I do more commercial work now my studio lighting is very important and run up to, 3 Elinechrome, 6 Bowen heads, 2 are a travel battery pack as I am actually on location more than studio. I still have an odd Metz and on-camera flash knocking about somewhere.
Could you tell us a little more about the challenges associated with the lack of high-end equipment?
It is obviously an issue not having the best of the best at your disposal, but then I look at my end use for commercial work here. First it would be press ads which is only 175 dpi so you can get away with a lot from that, although it also demands that you get a high contrast, stand out image so its not lost on crap print. Medium end would be editorial magazine work up to a double page and my 5D and decent 2.8 can handle that once you are in RAW. Larger size would then go to billboard, which here are only 150-170 dpi and viewed from afar so there is little difference in quality.
Saying all that, I did recently loose a campaign for the States of the launch of a local product they wanted to shoot here. I was pegged for it due to my style, but because we didn’t have a 30-40 megapixel medium format kits, I lost the deal. Obviously, I would love to have that but there is no rental services here and if we invested in it, it would end up being wasted on small ads here. It just does not make it financially viable to run Canon 1Ds Mark IIs or Hassleblads with digital backs.
It is in the books and high gloss magazines that I would love to have the higher end equipment to work with.
The basic fees that ad agencies here pay are usually less than Europe and States. Remember local viewership is only around 1.2 million people, equivalent to a small suburb in the US. When it goes regional across most Caribbean islands, we can usually command rates comparable to a Miami commercial rate. Sometimes we can get NY or even UK rates.
But a positive to limited equipment is that it does not allow you to become lazy, you can create stunning content by your skills as a photographer. Its an age-old argument how its not the equipment you have but the images you capture.
What’s your favorite camera/lens/accessory?
I always use Calumet radio triggers, which I love. A bit tricky and fragile when using a few at a time, too many plugs and connections that can go wrong they are a bit tempermental for such basic tools and prone to wear and tear. But when they are running they are just another solution that you can think less of and get on with shooting great pictures.
What’s your favorite subject to shoot?
“I am in my element when I have found an interesting subject to document…”
“People will recognize me and give me free reign to shoot in often awful situations”
I am in my element when I have found an interesting subject to document. Being based in an interesting place gives you the luxury of relationship building with your subjects. Before, i was used to flying in and out and only grabbing a few days for a feature where a good photographer can get a story out of it, but nothing beats spending real time with people. I have a little corner of a ghetto here that I have shot all the time for past few years, everything from gang killings, wakes, Sunday afternoons, school kids activity days, people will recognize me and give me free reign to shoot in often awful situations.
Commercially, I actually love shooting food and lifestyle. Working with chefs and food is really hard, but I love showing the chefs after and seeing their creation captured beautifully. I also love food so it’s a great combination.
What do you use for post and why?
Used all of the above, mostly beta versions and was happy with them but nothin,g stunning really. We recently installed CS3 through out our studio so I use Adobe Bridge for everything now.
Could you share a little bit about your workflow?
I will return from a shoot. Delete what I can from camera. Download to the hard drive. Open in bridge, do a ratings edit; my fist cull will be to delete more. Then I will do a 1-2 star-, which are usable. Switch to a rating order and view the rated ones. I will bounce back and forth until I rate 2-3. 3 star will be ones that I can show the client. I may convert all of those or do another round of cuts.
I open them up, do a batch sharpen. Then tweak the shadows and contrast mostly. And give the client a jpg version, high resolution tiffs and a RAW file just in case. I try not and do too much post-procesing. I am a firm believer in trying to get a good image from the shoot stage. It comes from learning on transparency where you have very little room for errors. We used to practice at school in just getting a whole roll of perfect exposures in different conditions.
From there I burn DVD for client, instruct them it is there responsibility to archive them. If I think I can use them in future and I have arranged rights to use, etc. I will then do a final cut, transfer them to our studio server where we just installed an automated backup. The advantage of working with a tech freak. And so I would then delete from my hard drive keeping my laptop free of space.
Film or digital and why?
I still have an old film 6×7, sold a 5×4 ages ago, a beautiful panoramic Hasselblad, which I used to love, and 2 Canon EOS1 bodies collecting dust. I was thinking the other day about incredible the rapid demise of film, which had been around for 100 years. It is gone in 5 years. I just have a few blocks of film left I’m experimenting with, letting them age and get exposed to heat. After being used to storing film in dark dry cool places, I just thought I would see what happens if you do all the things they tell you not to do.
I have a feeling after digitals search of perfection, like vinyl records, there will be a retro phase at some point in the future. People will want to see scratches, over exposure, film grain. Its like all the little imperfections of life which keep things familiar. Hell, I may not even be able to develop them! …and will have to mix my own chemicals… the horror! Imagine that!
I do not miss film really. I love the volume of images you can shoot digitally, just working your subject, I love the in-between moments that spring up on a more consistent ratio than film. Unless really doing set ups and fixed lighting, I used to use maybe one or two shots from a 36 exposures, where as I will bang off a 4gb card on raw, and have endless usable images, almost too many and more editing time is needed. But I edit tight and try and delete as much as I can just keeping the final edit. I use cards like a painter would use a sketchbook, make a whole set of mess and pick something out of it to produce a final image.
What i do miss about film is long exposures. I used to love tripod in dusk and dawn and also in urban areas using fluorescent and street lights and getting the crazy unpredictable colors. It was exciting and still had that magic of what photography use to be. Now I still love working in those times and also off tripod now with a 400 iso hand held, I love shooting the ghetto with that and just a bare bulb and getting hard light and black black shadows on dark skin. But with long exposures you get noise with digital.
Do you have any quick and dirty tips for our users you frequently use when shooting or post-processing?
I’m still working on my workflow, but mine is out of fear when on jobs really. Just back up as soon as possible post shoot, I even try not and erase cards until after shoot, in case of the random disasters.
Describe your "dream shoot"
Maybe working with a luxury brand of hospitality that have several locations where they all want the same style in their marketing collateral. So it would mean travel and an assistant, usually a hot one. The brand would have to be high-end to afford the shoot but also have modern corporate ethics. Maybe the resort has a small footprint on its environment and has used its surroundings as part of the ethos. Maybe it buys locally grown coffee and chocolate for its gourmet chefs to work with. It would also have to have cool staff to maybe sneak off to their local for a cold beer after.
What are you currently working on?
Meiling a fashion designers retrospective book, one of my favorite shoots this year. Worked with a talented group of people.
Digicel cell phone campaign, art directed out of Ireland.
Just finished a report for BG Gas Company.
Carib, a local beer calendar with models
Our own (Above Studios) marketing material and plan for rest of year.
When we shot together in Trinidad, I was amazed by your ability to make random subjects comfortable with the camera. Could you share some of your methods?
“I try and see what it feels like from there view…”
I try and see what it feels like from there view. Especially as modern street photography’s role has changed and has slightly different connotations. It has so much more rapid impact. It can be distributed and on the web within minutes. I learnt from being in difficult situations where things are bad and people are suffering and often would want their story told, are pleased to have a witness and at least someone interested in their issue. Nowadays people usually half joking ask if you are Paparazzi and almost always demand money because you are making thousands of dollars from that photo of them.
But now a days I like shooting the normalcy of things, everyday stuff that happens in the Caribbean. So that means I come from a different angle. I try and get them interested in me first. Even if I know exactly what I want from them.
Like the time we stopped at the side of the road. There was a set of country guys drinking rum. We stopped asked directions, which made them hear our accents. They knew we were visitors and were curious, so we stopped and bought food- often a conversation starter as they will then tell you about there cultural delicacies. In their case stewed squirrel. I don’t know if I believe them but I have seen seabird stew once so it could be possible. So then we had a few beers etc and hey! Why not get a snap of us all. So we pulled out a camera and so what if it was a huge 30D with kick ass 24-70 L on it? So I jumped in shot with them and you got a shot of me with them, this dispels a kind of fear or evidence gathering. It’s really interesting working in ex-soviet or dictatorial lead countries. People still have an ingrained fear of photos, taking notes, gathering names info etc, like in Haiti people still have a fear of the Papa Doc years.
A positive about digital is you can show them straight away. So also, they are men, so they are interested in gadgets so you have another conversation opener. Within 10 minutes we are getting tight head shots, moving them into the light and shooting from my lap with out even looking through view finder, which is another way of getting intimate. It means you can continue talking and have eye contact. You just need to compensate angle and learn to adjust etc.
Often if I am trying to get action on the street I won’t ask or disturb them, will turn my back to them make my settings and turn bang off a few and drop camera and walk about a bit, do a few more different angle etc, then I would try and make eye contact and give a little a shrug like a question and usually if they don’t mind you can continue shooting what ever they are doing. You will know pretty quickly if they don’t care for it.
There are many ways to get the best out of the situations and people, just try a few and learn what is best for you. The results in your images will be apparent immediately when you look back at them. You will get that feeling of the viewer actually ‘being there’ without the intrusion. Or people suddenly grinning and posing for you.
Any suggestions for aspiring photographers
Go back to the basics. Research the history, the great masters, modern contemporizers. There is often a blasé attitude that has evolved with the digital revolution and the lower costs of image capture with, high resolution phones or half decent point and shoots.
Now anyone can make and sell images. There has been a global lowering of the value of images with the stock giant wars and 1-dollar photos from iStockphoto and such like. All of this although impacting the living of photographers, has also opened a world of opportunities, fun and experimentation. It has kept people on their toes and change is good. There is some excellent work being done out there and often it starts to influence new trends and styles that will enter the commercial sphere. Such as that snap shot look and ‘mistakes’ like shooting into the sun getting flares and bleaching etc. But there is still a difference when viewing what is going on. You can tell a Corbis or Getty shot over a cheaper version.
My secret is a combination of all of the years of experience above but here’s a quick list:
- It all about knowing your subjects well, understanding what they do and what you are about to shoot.
- It is being able to work your equipment with a second nature like driving a car.
- It is all about knowing human behavior. Knowing how slight adjustments of a face or direction of eyes will communicate something different. Also, communicating with your subjects, wither on a fashion shoot or negotiating an army roadblock. Trying to predicting that behavior and positioning yourself where you will be able to see it.
- Lastly it is about light. You need to be able to see light. Live in a world where you are seeing it in highlights, shadows and contrast. How color temperature works and where it mixes.
So all you need to get that stand out image, is a combination of all of these. Then remember all of that has to be rolled into 1/60th of a second. There you go, easy!
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